Film Review: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Robert Wiene's 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' (1920)

Robert Wiene's 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' (1920 ) is a German silent film. The film is said to be one of the classic forms of German Expressionism in Cinema. The films settings and surroundings seem to be very daunting and off putting as the entire set seems to be disfigured as if the film is set in a different reality, were all is not what it seems.

Roger Ebert describes the set " The first thing everyone notices and best remembers about "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) is the film's bizarre look. The actors inhabit a jagged landscape of sharp angles and tilted walls and windows, staircases climbing crazy diagonals, trees with spiky leaves, grass that looks like knives."

Fig 1. still of the set 

During the film the camera is always set in the same position, which is straight, this makes the film become more of a stage like feel and so with the over exaggerated acting it seems to be more of a performance than a film.

Fig 2. Cesare

One particular scene seemed to catch my interests, this was when Cesare ( somnambulist ) went to kill one of the characters in the film. This became of interest to me as in this scene, the camera for a small period of time just focused on Cesare's hands coming closer to the screen, by doing this, it seemed to break the scene up from just having the same still positioned image and creates more interest for the viewer, a kind of refresh button for the mind.

Fig 3. Dr. Caligari

The story of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, is very confusing at most, I found that the films story line at first seemed to be obvious ( Dr. Caligari was controlling the somnambulist (Cesare)... to murder )

This seemed to give the storyline a dull tone at first, although this did not matter as viewers were more taken by the over exaggerated acting and set designs.

However near the end of the film there is a huge plot twist, which tells us that the entire film up to a point had been the imagination of a mad man ( the main character ) this could explain why the set design seemed to be disfigured and disturbing as who knows what a mad mans mind could look like, by giving the viewers this interpretation it shows that this world is twisted and disturbed by reality its self and reflects the basic principles of a mad persons persona.

(A less positive review ) this review is talking about the storyline of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Julia Merriam "Overall, the plot seems almost stagnant, as if it has nothing new to offer. It seems obvious from early in the film that Caligari is controlling Cesare in order to commit these murders. It’s hardly a surprise when Cesare attacks Jane, the only pretty woman on the screen available for damsel-in-distress duty, and the shocking twist ending is so predictable you’re almost surprised they actually follow through with it. However, while Caligari may seem mundane, it’s imperative that we remember this was made in 1919."

For the lighting of the film, yes its a black and white movie but lighting work still comes to play, an obvious one would be to show night and day as when it is day time the set is lit up and when it is night the lighting seems darker, the transactions also come into play and don't always just go to a black out, but instead shrink down to focus on key characters in the film, such as one seen when Dr. Caligari seemed to be plotting something at the end of the scene the screen shrunk down and focused on Dr. Caligari as if to say this was an important moment in the film. A way of helping the viewer keep up with what is going on within the film.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a landmark for the horror genre that we see today, The scenes, camera effects and even plot twist have been influential in an entire genre of Film.

Merrick Doll "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has become synonymous with cinematic expressionism. The visuals in the film pay homage to the expressionism in painting as practiced in the 1900s and 1910s (Reimer 71). Reality is reproduced as if it were reflected in a fun house mirror. The distortions, however, do not obscure the objects but instead render them in distorted shapes. Elongated shadows are painted onto set walls, and the streets wind crookedly past houses that are equally crooked. "


Bibliography:

Reviews:

Roger Ebert review: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920

Julia Merriam review: http://classic-horror.com/reviews/cabinet_of_dr_caligari_1920

Merrick Doll: http://modernism.research.yale.edu/wiki/index.php/The_Cabinet_of_Dr._Caligari


Images:

Figures 1 and 2 : http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-20-777-778-view-1900-1920-profile-1919-bthe-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-b.html

Figure 3: http://www.davidjrodger.com